.NET Enterprise Servers

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You're unlikely to ever write your own custom DBMS or your own messaging service or any of the other items of software infrastructure required to build a robust distributed application. More likely, you'll buy a package off the shelf or use whatever facilities are supplied with the operating system. However, this strategy poses a challenge: How do you integrate all these disparate pieces of software into a coherent system? To help solve this problem, Microsoft developed .NET Enterprise Servers. Each server is designed to fulfill a particular role in an enterprise system.

The most commonly used .NET Enterprise Servers are

• SQL Server

  This is Microsoft's flagship DBMS. It is SQL-based but also has comprehensive support for manipulating XML, and it has the ability to perform queries across the Internet.

• Exchange Server

  Exchange Server provides an infrastructure that supports messaging and collaboration. Its main features are scheduling facilities, e-mail, and workflow.

• BizTalk Server

  BizTalk Server allows you to define and deploy integrated business processes that incorporate components built using a range of technologies. You can implement secure trading partner relationships and specify, validate, and transform documents that are passed to and from trading partners. BizTalk Server Orchestration allows you to automate and manage business processes within your organization as well as the flow of data to trading partners .

• Application Center

  This server aids in the deployment and maintenance of Web applications. Its features allow easy maintenance of applications across groups of computers for high availability.

• Commerce Server

  Commerce Server provides a framework for building and deploying e-commerce solutions.

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